Worth the Wait


          
  I am so very proud of our daughter. She has learned a great lesson in patience and hard work.

            Several months ago, she asked us to get a Frozen castle. Yes, we have a little girl in love with all things Frozen (the most recent Disney animated film). She lives and breathes Frozen. We have the movie and the soundtrack (and yes, we all know all the lyrics to all the songs. Don’t judge). She loves the character of Elsa, as it seems do all little girls around the world.

            Two or three months ago, she asked us if we would buy her the toy castle. Actually, it is two castles in one, with one half representing the castle of Arendelle, and the other half representing Elsa’s ice castle. But there was one problem. The toy castle was pricey. So, we told her that she would have to save her money to get the castle. We told her we would have a yard sale, and that she would have to clean out some of her toys to put in the yard sale. And she went to work. She saved her dollars. She founds jobs that she could do at Grandma’s house, or at our house, to earn her dollars. She found toys she no longer played with, and placed those toys in the yard sale pile. She worked and she worked.

            She kept asking about the yard sale. When would we have the yard sale? When could she sell her stuff to earn dollars? So, we scheduled the yard sale for this past weekend. She was up early, eager to help work at the yard sale. She sold lemonade to raise money. She worked as hard as you could expect any four-year-old to work. And at the end of the day, after saving for months (she said it seemed like forever) and selling like a professional at the yard sale, she had enough to get her castle.

            She is so excited. And we are so excited for her. But, I am also proud of how focused she was on her task. She was determined to reach her goal. I think she learned a great lesson in hard work and in delayed gratification. I know that toy castle will be treated well because of all the effort that went into getting it. This has made me realize the immediacy of our culture. We want everything right now. We usually get everything right away. I never wait to buy something I need. If I need it, I just go to the store, or get on the computer and buy it. Our world is a world of “On demand.” If you want it you can have it. Now. I wonder if we would be better off if we had to wait for some of the good things?

 I think our daughter is better for the wait.

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